In me Liverpool 'ome

I've blogged about many towns and cities from across the globe that have decided to extend themselves into the virtual world of Second Life. Tonight, however, I am coming a lot closer to home - with a trip to the virtual Liverpool sim of Mathew Street. The street is home to The Cavern, the club where The Beatles played in their early days, and famous as the cradle of Merseybeat.

Liverpool has been awarded the honour of being European City of Culture, 2008 - which means a significant investment in the old place, and an influx of tourists who, hopefully, are not just there for the constant barrage of Beatles memorabilia. The Mathew Street sim appears to be part of the promotion for the 2008 event. It has been under construction for quite a number of months now, and seems to be taking shape nicely - although there is much still to be done. Here is a map of the sim - apologies about the poor quality, but it did not appear to get any better than this:


Whether you like it or not, it is inevitable that "iconic buildings" will feature in a construction of this type - and here they are in abundance. Aside from the street itself, the Royal Liver Building takes pride of place. As well as The Cavern, many of Liverpool's more recent clubs and music venues are here, including Cream and the wonderfully scuzzy Barfly:



Even in its current state of build, there are a number of slightly less expected items - such as Anthony Gormley's "Another Place" installation of statues along the tideline at Crosby, just to the North of the city. Inevitably, there is also a Yellow Submarine:



I have actually checked out this sim on a few occasions in the past, watching it coming along - and have noticed that it is rarely devoid of people. I have only really skimmed the content here, and there will be more in the months to come - but it is clear that this place is doing something right. The range of music, dancing and chatting venues is large - and their scale is intimate. Combine that with the inate clannish behaviour of Liverpudlians and you have yourself a sim that should continue to grow in popularity.

The title of this piece comes from a well-known ditty - the words of which can be found here. Just for the sake of clarity, I would like to point that Liverpool is not, in fact, my hometown or home location.